ROUND TWO: 5-casing vs. 4-mutual

Click here for authlete instructions.

Voter Instructions:

• The countdown at the bottom of each pairing indicates how much time is left to vote.
  • When voting closes, timer will disappear.
• Read both poems as many times as you like.
• Mark the poem you like best by clicking the circle next to its name.
• Press the “Vote” button to record your vote.
• Votes are counted in real time and cannot be changed once entered.
• You can only vote once from a given IP address.
  • Classrooms should submit one vote as a class.
  • Students can then vote again individually from home.

Things to Consider in Making a Choice:

• How well the poem incorporates the authlete’s assigned word.
• Technical elements: meter, rhyme, form, shape, and other poetic standards.
• Creativity: wordplay, imagery, unusual approach, etc.
• Subtle elements that make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.
• Your overall response: emotional reaction such as admiration, tears, laughter, terror, or some indefinable feeling.

Here are the poems:

5-casing
Who Am I?
By April Halprin Wayland

I won’t tell. I’m zipped inssside this leathery ssshell
and until we’re friends, I’m embracing
this ssshiny casing.

Who am I?

I’m ssslithery, ssshy.
Once I know you, I’ll begin
to ssshed my ssscared and ssscaly ssskin.

Who am I?

vs.

4-mutual
Coffee Plant Purrs to Honeybee and Bee Buzzes Back
By Buffy Silverman

“I’m a cream-petaled flower at Garden Café
with a full-roasted power and heady bouquet.
I steep a strong drink that you’ll never forget:
so carry my pollen, my fine fuzzy pet.”

“You’re a buzz-laden brewer, a trickster to boot;
You course with caffeine from your leaf to your root.
But there’s mutual gain in this plot that you’ve brewed,
You’ve taught me your scent, and it leads me to food!”

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